ROME – The Minister of Labor Nunzia Catalfo has pledged on radio that nobody will lose their jobs because of the coronavirus emergency as they will be protected by social safety nets, saying "all sectors that are currently closed for obvious reasons, even those with a single employee, will be protected," as quoted in La Stampa. The Italian Council of Ministers will approve approximately 12 billion euros on Friday with the objective of strengthening the health service, after talks between Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, and President of the European Council, Christine Lagard. An estimated 25 billion euros was approved in total, amounting to 1.1 per cent of Italian GDP.

  The Italian Economic Minster, Roberto Gualtieri, explained that the reason only approximately half the resources were being put to immediate use was because the other half should be on hold to support future interventions. "The resources allocated will be used in part in the first decree - which we are preparing and which we plan to approve this week,” he said, as quoted in La Repubblica.

  However, it remains unclear as to where the funds are coming from, after the Chief Spokesperson for the EU Commission, Eric Mamer, said on Wednesday that this was not an EU investment fund. Analysis provided by La Stampa reveals that the multi-billion euro agreement only allows EU governments not to return EU funds that have already been allocated and not spent within the previously defined quotas. It does not mean there will be transfers between countries.

  According to Carlo Cottarelli, director of Cattolica’s Public Accounts Observatory, Italy need a 36 billion euro deficit funded plan to avoid recession.

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